This Shattered World

Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Pages: 390

ISBN: 978-1-4231-7122-5

Series: Starbound Trilogy #1

Genre: SciFi

Like in the first instalment of the Starbound trilogy the book is about two characters that could not be more different on the first glance. On the one hand there is Captain Jubilee ‘Lee’ Chase who is serving in the military on the outpost of Avon. She is there to help keep the rebellious Fianna in check who are not content with the planet’s progress in the terraforming process. One of the rebels is Flynn Cormac, the brother of the former leader of the rebellion who was executed by the military.

The lives of these two cross as Flynn comes into a bar on the military base to ask questions about a discovery he made. There he meets Jubilee and he kidnaps her because he feels this is the only way for him to stay alive after their encounter does not go as planned. Even though he wants to end the war between the military and the Fianna, he does not believe that killing is the best option. Instead he wants to use his prisoner to get a chance to enter negotiations with their oppressors. Of course this is a position not favoured by all the rebels and Flynn has to take a decision that will change the future of everyone.

Being confronted with this situation, both Jubilee and Flynn uncover truths about their lives, the planet they live on and about each other that they would not have if they hadn’t met.

Also, special appearances from characters from the first book These Broken Stars.

Review

I was so looking forward to reading this book because I enjoyed the first work of these two authors. I had to wait a long time because I bought the paperback version which was out about one year later then the hardcover version. At least after all this waiting I can say that it was totally worth to wait. I wanted to read this book first out of the few I bought recently as it is SciFi and I heard a lot of good things about it.

I have to say that it certainly is not my most favourite book but that is not because this one is not spectacular but more because I just fell in love with other books more. There are a few things that just don’t add up for me but these are minor. The plot is very predictable but the message I took from the book makes up for every little flaw I found. As Jubilee remarks in the book, there are not just two sides to one thing meaning that there is always more than e.g. good or bad and everything looks different from another perspective. Sometimes there just has to be somebody who shows us a different way to open our eyes.

As These Broken Stars, this work is written from a first person point of view and the characters we get to follow change in each chapter. The main protagonists have opinions about each other which are made very clear in their chapter and then in the next we find out about the mind-set of the other one.
Expectedly, the characters start hating each other and develop feelings and sympathies for each other and the other side. Those changes happen quite fast and almost too conveniently for the plot but getting to know the protagonists more and more, all this is put in context as Jubilee and Flynn get to have a more developed background story.

The two authors do a wonderful job in waving the background setting into the current situation and each chapter is containing the exact amount of information and feelings needed to be able to empathise with both Jubilee and Flynn. When reading, I always wanted the characters to interact some more, to see more of their behaviour towards each other but not because there was something missing but because the authors did such a wonderful job in providing all those points yet making me hungry for more at the same time. I felt the struggle that both endure during the story of the book is covered well in their emotions and reactions and although it can seem rushed sometimes because the storyline continues I believe that this reflects the pace of a story that deals with an impending war.

Overall I have to say that I liked this book even more than the first one of the Starbound Trilogy and I am not sure if I can wait for the third to be published as a paperback version before I feel the unrestrained need to devour another book of those two wonderful authors. And because it is Science Fiction and the leopard can’t change its spots. 

More from Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner

Still Alice

Author: Lisa Genova

Pages: 336

ISBN: 978-1-5011-0773-3

Series: -

Genre: Contemporary

In the book we get to know Alice Howland, a 50-year-old cognitive psychology professor at Harvard University and also a linguistic expert. She attends conferences, talks and meetings all over the world.

She first realizes, there is something wrong with her when she can’t remember a word in one of her presentations. This unnerves her but only after she ‘gets lost’ while running on campus she sees a doctor because she thinks the symptoms could be a result of her menopause. She is told to see a neurologist who diagnoses her with familial early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

During the story we can see how she struggles to tell the news to her husband, her children and at work. She has a hard time being less and less able to understand conversations and books. We get to see Alice in different situations displaying the challenges and problems she faces on a day to day life and how she and her family try to live with her disease.

Review

I wanted to read this book for over a year because I wanted to watch the movie based on the novel and I for that I had to first read the book. As the movie got so much praise and generally books are better than their motion picture counterparts I had quite high expectations on the book and I did not get disappointed.

I sure had heard of Alzheimer’s disease but reading about it in this amazing book provoked a lot of feelings inside of me. I can say that this is one of the few books that actually made me cry while reading it and not just once. After having processed one situation in Alice’s life, we are confronted with the next difficulty in her new life and her tries to adapt with a degrading brain.

Even though the book is written from a third person point of view and we only get insides on Alice’s feelings, Lisa Genova just writes so amazing that the thoughts and feelings of the other characters can be guessed. Sometimes the passages are just as short as a few pages but still the atmosphere they convey is on the point.

The best thing about the book for me and this is the thing that makes it extremely scary too, is that so many times I had to think how it would be like for me to go through all this. After finishing the book, I remembered Alice saying: ‘I’d rather have cancer.’ I know that cancer is nothing you should wish to have but thinking about being able to do less and less every day and knowing that you will not remember the conversation you just had because your brain just shuts down more and more every day is one of the most horrible things I can imaging happening.

Now maybe one could say that it is not because the book is so good that I felt those emotions but because of the topic, I have to disagree. Lisa Genova’s writing reflects the condition of the character as the longer into the book, the more the language indicates on the situation of the main character. I think that although the topic will always be something that makes it easier to maybe like the novel, the conversations and thoughts have to be consistent in itself. They show the desperation but also the good memories that Alice still has. And with all that is happening to her, we can never forget that she is Still Alice.

Six of Crows

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Pages: 462

ISBN: 978-1-62779-509-8

Series: Six of Crows #1

Genre: Fantasy

In Ketterdam, a large city on the island of Kerch, Kaz Bekker gets a job offer that will change his life and the life of his crew. Kaz, working his way up through the ranks of the Dregs since he was nine years old and at the age of 17 he now is the right hand of the gang boss with the nickname Dirtyhands fitting his reputation. When he is approached by a rich council merchant to break into and retrieve the object of desire from the impregnable fortress of Djerholm, the capital of Fjerda, he cannot pull the job of alone but needs the best crew he can find.

The persuasion for this job is far from easy as no one who attempted to steal from the Ice Court came back to talk about the adventure. Knowing this, Kaz negotiated 30 million kruge for the job and with a few tricks of his he gets the right people assembled for this heist that could end deadly.

With a sniper with a love for gambling, a sneaking spy with a troubled past, a determined Grisha surviving in an unwelcome place, an explosive expert with unlikely family ties and a condemned criminal with a hope for vengeance they try the most difficult heist Kaz has ever planned.

While accompanying them on their journey we get to know their pasts, why they agreed to take the job at all and why they take certain decisions and actions.

In each chapter we follow one of the protagonists from a third person point of view yet get insides in their state of mind, feelings and thoughts.

Review

I heard a lot of things about this book, how good it is and that it kind of is a must read yet I had it on my bookshelf for over a month before I started reading. I read the Grisha-Trilogy and I liked it and it is written very well but I also felt a little disappointed so I feared that Six of Crows is going to be a similar experience. But how wrong I was! The book is just amazing.

I love the way it is written and the characters because no matter how good they are at what they do best, there is still something human in them, they are not perfect, they make mistakes. When reading about their back stories I could not help but feel some kind of understanding for each character, they felt like real people because every story was thought through. I personally do not like characters that are just perfect in every way or are able to everything they try. Even if it is fantasy I want to find something that I can identify with in the characters and that is very hard to do when the person I read about has no faults at all.

Not only the protagonists but also the world is described beautifully and with a richness in detail so you get the idea of how everything looks like and can imagine the scenery in your own mind. And if you lose track of the setup of the world there are two gorgeous maps at the beginning of the book.

Apart from that, Leigh Bardugo did a brilliant job in weaving the story so it does not appear constructed. Sure there are events happening that just come by conveniently but things like that happen in real life too and I never had the feeling like ‘Oh right, what would they do if this had not happened at all’ or ‘Really, I so expected that’. I guess generally you can get a rough idea of the ending of a book and Six of Crows was no exception to that rule yet, in contrast to other books, I did not want the book to end, I wanted to read on and on and on.

The fact that the story is about a heist and tells so much about the people in it makes it a great reading experience. For me the book could be a standalone as well because sure, I can hear about the characters and their stories a lot more, but I also felt that the insights we got in their lives was well rounded, even with the ending we got. There are only very few books I can think of that were planned to be more than just one book and get you excited for more yet they could have worked on its own and I think that is a truly remarkable achievement.

More from Leigh Bardugo

Cheesy Chester

Hmmm, what to do when there are no lectures? Right, day trip to see some more of the UK. Well, honestly I am sitting around in Manchester a lot but we don't always have off together so planning something is sometimes a little tricky. The choices were Chester or York. We thought, maybe the weather in Chester is better as it is more in the south... Haha, it's England, so the weather does not care. At all.

Arriving in Chester, which is only one hour train ride away, we made our way to the city centre. And, yeah, it was raining a little (haha). But we did not let this take away our enthusiasm. Walking trough the streets feels so different from almost everything you see in Manchester as the houses are half-timber houses with black wood and white walls. So, we were in awe and took photos. Yeah, I did take a few where you can see the houses as well (find them here, maybe) but if you want more, just type in Chester in Google 😉

Further discovering, we saw the cathedral and decided: Let's go in there. It's quite huge and so many nice windows and all this black wood. It even has a small patio with a fountain and trees and flowers. It just looks a little like in the Harry Potter movies... The entrance to the cathedral is free but if you want to go on top of the tower, they want you to pay so, poor students that we are, left and just enjoyed it from the outside. Funny story though: Inside, they build the cathedral with Legos!!

Afterwards we wanted to see if there is a market so we looked on a map and apparantly we looked lost because an older woman saw us and come over. She and her husband were so nice, they told us what we can and should see and accompanied us to the city wall, which they recommended, because they were heading in the same direction. The city wall is seemingly something special in Chester as you can walk around the whole city. I think because it is Roman, maybe... Well, there are some Roman remains in Chester, like an amphitheatre which is not that spectacular, but anyways interesting to see.

After walking, enjoying the sun (!!!) and some lunch, we came across this beautiful park which was occupied by thousands of squirrels and birds. Strolling around and being in no hurry, guess what happend: It started to pour. Really badly. Oh man, that was so unfortunate, the animals were coming so close, perfect picture material. At least I got some of them. But we quickly had to head back to safety and on the way back to town, we found this other church/cathedral and just walked in. It isa very old own and build on ruins of a church dating back to around 1000 A.C., inside though it was so strange because there was a little bookstore/café and the books lay on the benches... And they have a thing for hawks/eagles there, I don't know why but in either church they had some big sculptures of them.

Back in town, the last thing we did raiding a cheese shop. Ok, we behaved nicely but they let us try any cheese we wanted and so: shopping frenzy. Well, the cheese was really good and not that expensive, so totally worth it! Being on the train back, we all were quite exhausted and, haha, it was rainy again, typically England...

An Ember in the Ashes

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Pages: 446

ISBN: 978-1-59514-803-2

Series: An Ember in the Ashes #1

Genre: Fantasy

The book follows the lives of Laia and Elias and how they become intertwined as their paths cross.

Laia is a 17-year-old Scholar who is living with her brother Darin, 19, with their grandparents since their parents died. The Scholars were once the rulers of the Empire until the Martials took over the power and since then have oppressed and enslaved the Scholars. There are rebels and Scholars, the Resistance, who try to fight against their suppressors such as the parents of Laia and Darin.

One night when the two siblings are in their room they are raided by soldiers leaded by a Mask, an elite soldier, who are looking for Darin as they suspect he is a spy for the Resistance. Though their grandparents are killed, Laia can escape in exchange for the raiders getting their hands on Darin. Wandering around all alone, she tries to find the Resistance to ask them for their help to get her brother back. Not being treated very gently and confronted with disbelieve and doubt she agrees to spy on the vicious Commandant at Blackcliff, the training facility for the Masks.

There, Elias is in the final steps of his training to become a full Mask. He is the finest yet at the same time the student with the most doubts of the system. The academy becomes the stage of a competition to determine the next ruler just as it is predicted by the Augurs and Elias is one of the chosen competitors such as his friend Helen. Together they try to win the challenges, stay alive and not let their feelings for each other get the best of them.

The paths of Laia and Elias cross in a place they hate and fear and without knowing they start to depend and care for each other. As Laia attempts to gain information about her brother’s whereabouts and secrets the Resistance can use for their cause and Elias trying to escape his own prison at the academy, they have to take decisions that will change their lives and the lives of their friends as well.

Review

I happened to find this book by accident as is was advertised on one of my bookmarks I got from my bookstore. Reading the summary on it, which was in German, I was not very convinced but searched online and the English description was much more appealing to me. So I decided to order the book and was super excited to start reading.

And it blew my mind. I started reading as soon as I could get my hands on the book around noon and was done sometimes in the same night. I literally could not put it down as Sabaa Tahir’s writing is so capturing I was totally lost in the story and the characters as they get more and more background and depth the farther you get into the story. You can understand their feelings, plans and hopes and why they take the actions they do.

Written from a first person point of view the chapters on each character do a good job on making you feel and see the way Laia or Elias take in their surroundings and situations. It is also easy to differentiate between the two main protagonists as the personality is reflected in the writing style. This way you also get to see how they grow on a task or are uncertain and sometimes weak on the inside yet overcome their fears to achieve their goal because they do these things more for others than for themselves. But just like every other person they are not perfect and they fail, they get hurt physically and mentally, and they sometime are at the edge of their strength.

The setting is described equally wonderful because enough space of the book is used so everything can be imagined while at the same time does not bore you to read through these passages. To keep track of the locations that the plot takes place there is a marvellous map at the beginning of the book. 

I think this book is truly magnificent as I don’t get annoyed with the protagonists on any point of the story because even if they do things I wouldn’t do, from the way it is written I can understand their motives. Because of that and the well-crafted characters with flaws and everything I never had the feeling that the author introduces a storyline that just gets to be in the book because it is convenient for the progress of the main story.

I really am looking forward to the release of the second book to see how the story advances further with maybe utterly different sides of the protagonists because of new dangers or tasks they have to face.

3 Days in Dublin

Another Easter holiday trip: Dublin. Kind of a must go, it is so freaking cheap. Just under £20 round trip, even sleeping there costs more. 

Being so cheap there is some catch which is the punctuality at Ryanair. We took of about 30 minutes later than scheduled yet almost made it in time to Dublin. We just only needed around 40 minutes time instead of 1 hour so at least that... Getting from the airport to the city is extremely convenient as there is a shuttle bus operating very frequenty. And on the ride we drove by a bridge designed by my favourite architect. I guess I took around 20 pictures (oh, did you say photos of Dublin) of this bridge alone. To my defense, the sun was shining in my eyes and I did not see the pictures I took.

From the bus stop to our Airbnb was just a short walk and there it did not look like a busy city at all. Nice neighbourhood with houses around a little park. Out host was very nice as well as she gave us some tips for the evening and the next day.

We then went to explore the city a little, walking trough the famous Temple Bar district. A little exhausted from the trip (yeah, it was short but the waiting with no information on when anything will go forward was really annoying), we made our way back to our accommodation to start the next day with as much energy as possible.

But apart from the weather, we learned some interesting facts about Dublin and while walking trough the city I found som every interesting street signs. I have no idea what some of them want to tell us and some are just amazingly funny... (No bikes on the grass. Ha, well, how am I supposed to get on the grass with my bike when there is fenced?!)

So a little Dublin history (if I can remember): When the vikings came to Ireland, they build they settlement in the place that is now called Dublin. But it was not called that back then. They ankered their ships in a lake or pool near the river Liffey and because the water was so dark, it was called Duiblinn which is the Irish word for black pool. Due to that, the settlement was called Dyflin and over hundreds of years it evolved into Dublin.

Other historical fact: Ireland became part of the commenwealth because one king needed an army and the Irish could supply him with one. Marriage arrangements are made and whoooops, there you go.

Nothing historical but still an interesing fact: The libray of the Trinity College is the model for the library in the Star Wars movie Attack of the Clones. But because George Lucas did not get the permission to film inside, he took equipment on the tour, which by the way costs around 10€, and recorded the whole place. For filming they then build it after the images. I sadly don't have pictures of this librarby because I did not want to pay but if you want to see it, either google it or watch the scene in Attack of the Clones.

After the tour we just walked around the city a little more and ended up in the park next to St. Patrick's Cathedral and we like this place the most in Dublin. I was a little green oasis and beautiful architecture. Later I went to the Jameson distillery to do a 'whiskey tour'. I was rather disappointed as it is very commercialised and not good enough for the price. The tasting at the end was three different whiskeys, obviously their iwn one, American Jack Daniel's and Scotch which I liked the most.

The evening we spend hunting for food and meeting with friends from Manchester who happened to go there as well during that time. And knowing me as the party animal I am, we went home rather early as we were tired from the day and the weather (sunglasses, umbrella, jacket open, jacket closed, sunglasses with umbrella...). And then on the third day we headed back to the ariport and landed in sunny good old Manchester.

By the way, have you noticed, Dublin's river Liffey looks astonishingly like Paris, just saying.

Yeah, London!

Easter holiday and the question: What to do with 3 weeks of free time? Answer: Short trip to London!

It started very early on a Monday morning, 6am. As the train to London would strain the budget too much, the bus was the transport of choice. It was not the most comfortable journey ever but arriving after around 5 hours in the sunny destination was definitely worth it. After checking in our Airbnb, we made our way to the walking tour we planned to do and also to meet our friends who made the journey to London one day earlier.

Being in London before, I saw most of the places we went to already but getting a little story told to each of them was very nice. And our tour guide rocked it, it was funny and informative. And we walked so fast... While my friends decided to have dinner, I went on another tour, the Grim Reaper Tour with stories of beheadings, death, more beheadings in the history of the town and Jack the Ripper. Just my kind of adventure. Well, it was quite cold in the end but I HAD FUN!!!

The next day, we planned to see the tower of London first and then see, what the day would bring. And what happened was the best weather we could have hoped for. Sun with almost no clouds. So we started at the Tower of London where the gardeners got some new turf in place and made our way over the tower bridge to the other side of the river Thames. And yes, we played tourists, taking as many photos as possible from the famous landmark. Well, my photos of London in general do look a little different...

So we spent our time enjoying the brilliant weather while walking towards the Millennium Bridge in the direction of St. Paul's Cathedral. As this is quite some distance, we decided to get the world’s oldest subway, the London Tube, to get to the National Gallery. Admitting, I don't really understand anything about art, I can't judge the paintings there but I can cherish the work put into them even though I personally liked very few of them. Yet, the culture programme was not finished, as the National Portrait Gallery is next door and was waiting for us to be explored as well. So now I can say: My demand for art in that way is very low. :p

The day ended with China town, some dinner and the mandatory pint.

The third day was also already the last day of the trip. With the bus leaving in the afternoon, we had to make use of the first part of the day. And, of course, how else could we spend it than in a museum. This time, the British Museum which was one of the top things to do on my list. Why? Well, first of all, the building is stunning and most importantly, they have a huge Egyptology section. So, it combined two of my obsessions, architecture and ancient Egypt.

Apart from this section, there is so much more to see though and one could probably spend days in there and has not paid attention to every detail. But London is only a 'short' bus journey away so I might come back...

As we all know, culture makes one get hungry so it was fish and chips time (Yes, I ate fish!) before I had to do another very important thing on my list: Go shopping... for tea! (I had the false pretence that in the country of tea, finding loose tea should not be a big problem but I could not have been farther from reality. Even in restaurants or cafes, they sell the cup of tea with tea bags. What a shame!) After my excessive shopping it was time to head back to the station but not before eating a typical British ice cream...

Now, one could say: Oh, that was not that much you did but after over 63,400 steps and about 38km, we were just happy to come back home...

Exploring the City

I heard a lot about the reputation of Manchester regarding the appearance of city before I came here. I have to say that Salford may not be the nicest place I've ever been to but the Manchester city centre is really nice and new. There are a lot of renovations going on and for me it looks not very much like an industrial shaped city. There are defenitely some nice corners to explore.

There will be some photos, and I really hope to share more over time, which are supposed to show what I can see here. On some it might not look so great but that is mostly due to the weather as the photos are not manipulated ;).

The first few pictures are from Chinese New Year. There was a dragon parade through the city that day and we were expecting a magnificent dragon. What we got, well, see for yourself... at least it was sunny.

Here in the UK, almost all the museums are free so when I went to explore the city for real for the first time and walked to the cathedral I happened to come across the National Football Museum and well, I just though why not. If it is bad I will just leave but well I am still a football fan so what were the odds of this beeing a waste of time?! And the building has a very nice architecture too.

After this experience I wandered around a little, the day was sunny and it wasn't too cold. From the museum it is just a short walk to the Manchester Catherdal. Unfortunalty there is a construction going on in the inside so I could not really capture the building as it probably deserves but I will come back later on the year so see if I can share a new photo.

What I really wanted to do that day though was seeing the city library and the John Rylands Library. The latter is part of the Manchester University but open for public and for me as a lover of books, one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. They have a collection of one of the oldest books in the world and it looks just like I would imagine an old librabry to look like. You are just not allowed to take pictured in most parts of the building, so just come here and have a look for yourself. This defenitly is something everyone should do when coming here even if books are not your cup of tea, just having seen this is worth it. The most astonishing thing about this library though is that it appears to be a church on the outside and even on the inside, so it is kind of mindblowing.

Going back home I walked by the town hall. I have not been in there but just the outside is already sublime. It is a Victorian, Neo-gothic style building and the clock tower looks a little like the Big Ben in London.

And then there is MediaCity where I have class sometimes too. This looks so nice and new and I already talked briefly about it. There is BBC and iTV and then there is shopping mall. This area of Manchester of more accurately Salford is also called the Quays (say: Kies ;)) which also host a theatre and gallery complex calles the Lowry and there is the National War Museum which is still on my list to see.

Let’s go to… Liverpool

Yes, a day trip to Liverpool. It's already been a while ago I just never sat down and wrote the post.

So, it was March and as we are in the north of England, what do you expect weather-wise? Sun, of course! And this time, we were lucky, one of the nicest days so far. We planned the trip to Liverpool as it is soooo cheap. Imagine taking the train from Würzburg to Frankfurt and paying (now it's time to guess) £3. Yes, that's it, quite remarkable as taking the train into the city is (single ticket) £1.90. So off we go...

The start of the day was probably a little bit rocky, some of our group being out late we were rather tired on the train. Yet, arriving there with the sun shining made us all smile. Our train went to Liverpool Lime street and stepping out of the station gives you a view you would not expect. Huge buildings with Roman inspired architecture surprised even me even though I know that the Romans had some influence in the north of England (Thank you 7 years of Latin in school). 

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Old Trafford and the First Games

This post is dedicated to my first visit to Old Trafford and the first football games I saw there.

So one of the very first things I did when I came here was go to the stadium my team plays in. I know it is just a stadium but finally being here after being a fan for more than 11 years without having seen my team live is incredible. I did the stadium tour and became a member on my third day in Manchester and I felt like a little child in a candy store...

So what is there to say about the stadium? Well, if it is sold out, there are over 75.000 people cheering for the team and the atmosphere is truly magnificent.

The first game I was attending: The U21 from Manchester United against the U21 from Norwich City. It was at Old Trafford and it was free (We can go to MediaCity with our student ID which is about 15 minutes and from there it is a walk for about another 15 minutes). So I went there with my flatmate Graham and we experienced a night we won't forget so fast. I would estimate that there were around 2.000 people and the atmosphere was already great so what will it be when the house is full?! (I will get to that...) The game was, well, I am missing the words here. ManU won 7:0 and I got to see my favourite player (he will stay anonymous) so not even the cold and the rain could dampen my mood (at the end of the game I could hardly feel my feet anymore).

My next game was the under 21 again. This time I went to the other side of the city and saw a derby between Manchester City FC U21 and Manchester United FC U21. The result was not so positive as we lost with one goal but watching a game in the 'enemy' stadium for £3 is worth it anyway. I got to admit that I was a little scared at the beginning because I went there on my own and I chose a bad seat as all the singing fans surrounded me and I slowly moved al the way to the right to be out of there 🙂 (When they are singing it could be English or ... not because I can hardly understand anything). The weather this day was even worse than on my first game as I was soaking wet when I came home but I enjoyed it so much just to be able to go and se a game of football.

And then came the Europe League game. It was against FC Midtjylland and the team lost the first leg so I though either this is going to be a great night or everything goes bad. And at first it looked very bad for the team as they fell behind but they turned the game around in the second half and won 5:1. So you can imagine, the atmosphere was really tense until late in the game but when the goals came, it was just incredible. I could describe how it felt to be there and exyperience this night I would not be able to tell someone who has not been part of something like that and those who have don't need a description, so... Let's just say I still get goose bumps by merely remembering the evening!